Love of your life or true love?
by La la bella
Summary: Bella Swan and Edward Masen have the perfect lives. But when their worlds collide they're faced with a new question. Can the love of your life and your true love be two different people? All Human
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I've always believed in finding the love of my life or true love. But what if, maybe, just maybe, they were two different people? What if your "perfect life" wasn't so perfect after all, but you didn't realize it? Not until a different possibility tapped your shoulder, but you were so sure of the your future you didn't recognize the better one for what it was. Would you end up settling for the not-so-perfect life, never truly acknowledging the life you could have had, or would fate intervene? Which would you be forced into living without: the love of your life or your true love?


	2. Momentum

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or Twilight

**Momentum**

"Why is everything worth having always just out of reach?" I mumbled under my breath, staring at one of the three copies of _Wuthering Heights_, full two shelves out my reach.

I glanced up and down the isle of Borders I was currently in, as I made the decision to do whatever I could to get that book. Surely no one would notice the plain brown-haired, brown-eyed 23-year-old climbing the bookcase like a rock wall to get a book off the top shelf… The only question was if I could do it successfully. Knowing me and my clumsy, disaster-magnet nature, something would surely go wrong. But I was determined and optimistic.

Tentatively, I put one foot on the second lowest shelf, putting a little weight on it, testing the sturdiness. I reached my right hand up to the grab the shelf one below where _Wuthering Heights_ rested.

_One…two…three_ I counted in my head. On three I hoisted myself up, putting my other foot on the same shelf as the first, grabbing the same shelf with my left hand as I was holding with my right. For a second I just clung there, making sure the bookcase wouldn't topple over. Looking up at my hands, I saw the book was now in reach.

Letting go with my right hand, I slowly reached up, hoping desperately that I wouldn't fall at the last second before I got the book. Eventually my fingertip skimmed the binding and, now triumphant, I grabbed it and pulled the book from its place on the shelf so eagerly it was my undoing.

The momentum of pulling out the book caused me to lose my balance and sent my torso backwards, making it too hard to hold on. In what seemed like slow motion, my fingers slipped, knocking a few books down around me and I fell backwards. I quickly screwed my eyes up in anticipation of the impact with the floor. But instead of a tile floor, I felt two warm, strong arms suddenly stop my fall, catching me under my shoulder blades and under my knees.

In the same second it took for me to register the fact that I wasn't falling anymore, I heard several paperback books hit the floor, objects I should have beat to the floor.

I whipped open my eyes to see who my savior was and met a very concerned pair of brilliant emerald eyes. From my position in his arms, I could only see his beautiful face - which looked as though it was perfectly carved from marble, making his eyes and smooth pick lips stand out wonderfully – and his messy bronze hair.

"Are you alright?" said the man in a soft velvet voice.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" I hurried to say. Upon hearing this the man slowly set me down on my feet, but kept his hands on my shoulders to keep me steady just in case. Now that I could see him fully, I saw that he was just over six feet, and through his black t-shirt, I could see he was very well defined. "Thanks you so much, you saved me from both some serious bruises and serious embarrassment."

With this, the side of his mouth pulled up in a dazzling crooked smile and his emerald eyes grew amused. "It was no problem really." He looked down at the book miraculously still in my hand and stooped to pick up one of the five or so books I brought down with me that were now spread around us in the floor. "You helped me avoid a similar predicament," he said as he held up another copy of _Wuthering Heights_.

I grinned at him. "Always happy to help. I'm Bella Swan," I said, offering my hand.

"Edward Masen," he responded, briefly shaking my hand in a soft, but firm grip.

**Well, here's the first real chapter.**

**Btw, I'm new at this, so I'll be updating kind of slow.**


	3. The LongLost Brother

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer rules the Twilight world I simply reside in. Including the conversation about _Wuthering Heights._

_Previously:_

_I grinned at him. "Always happy to help. I'm Bella Swan," I said, offering my hand._

"_Edward Masen," he responded, briefly shaking my hand in a soft, but firm grip._

**The Long-Lost Brother**

"Well, thanks again for the save Edward," I said, releasing his hand and bending down to pick up the other books I had dragged down with me. "I guess I shouldn't have tempted fate like that."

"Do you often fall off bookcases?" Edward asked humorously. He kneeled down next to me and picked up some books as well.

I laughed. "Not bookcases, per say. I just fall a lot in general."

Chuckling, Edward took the books out of my hands and reached up to put them on the shelf. I may not have been able to reach it, but being a head taller than me, he could. "Well, it was worth it. It's quite the book," he said.

"Yeah, it's my favorite. I'm actually replacing my really old, really used copy. My boyfriend, Mike, accidently washed it," I said.

"Yikes. Hope you didn't punish him too bad for that," he said, smiling his crooked smile.

"Naw, it was an accident," I elaborated. "It was just sitting on my bed and a couple of clothes got flung onto it, so when he scooped them up, he scooped up my book too."

"Well, that's too bad," he said, leaning against the bookcase as he spoke. "I don't have quite the story, I just wanted my girlfriend Jessica to read it, so I was getting her a copy. I think everyone should read a classic now and then, and I figured this was a good one to start on. Though Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of the story itself."

"What?!" I said incredulously.

"Well, it's just that it's not a love story, it's a hate story," Edward explained. "Catherine and Heathcliff are just so…. malignant. I just think it would be better is they had _one_ redeeming quality."

"I think that's the point though, they're love _is_ their redeeming quality," I countered. "It's about the inevibil—

I was cut off as my phone began to ring. Hearing the ring tone, Barbie Girl, I knew who it was. I quickly apologized to Edward and answered the phone, bracing myself for imminent squeal.

"_BBBBBEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAA!!!!"_

Edward chuckled as he heard it from where he was standing, but and squinted at the phone in my hand as if trying to see who was talking.

"What now Alice?" I asked in exasperation.

"We need to go shopping!" she exclaimed in excitement. I could practically see her jumping up and down in excitement. Meanwhile, I large crooked grin broke out on Edward's face.

"Alice, we went shopping yesterday," I complained. "Besides, I'm busy right now."

"Who said I wanted to go right now?" she asked, disappointed, telling me she definitely wanted to go right now. "Where are you? What are you doing?"

"I'm at Borders, talking to this guy who…" I trailed off as I said this. Edward had stuck out his hand for the phone. "Umm, Alice, he wants to talk to you?" It turned into a question, but more of a question to Edward. He just smiled and gestured with his hand again.

"Uuuhhh, ok, put him on then," she replied, just as confused as I was.

I handed the phone to Edward and looked at him inquiringly.

"Alice?" he asked still smiling like he had a secret.

For once, I couldn't hear Alice's reply; she was actually speaking at a normal volume.

"Yeah, Al, it's Edward." How did Edward know Alice's nickname? And he didn't introduce himself; he spoke his name as if… they already knew each other. My eyebrows rose and Edward looked at me and his grin expanded.

"Yeah, I caught her when she fell off the bookshelf. You told me your roommate was clumsy, but I just pictured walking on the sidewalk, not falling off bookcases in the middle of book store."

Yep, they knew each other all right.

"Are we still on for dinner all together tomorrow?" There was a pause. "Cool… Yeah, ok, I'll give you back to her…No, I promise not to keep her for long. Besides we can talk more tomorrow," at this Edward looked at me with a triumphant look on his face.

Meanwhile, my mouth was hanging open in shock. _He_ was Alice's adoptive brother that had been on the east coast for school as long as I'd known Alice? And_ he_ was coming to our big dinner tomorrow with Mike and I, Alice and her boyfriend Jasper, and Rosalie and Emmet? Damn…

"Okay, see you soon Alice. Yeah. Love you too, sis." He handed the phone back to me.

"Hey…" I said into the phone, still in shock.

"So I guess I don't have to introduce you to my brother now," Alice said.

"Yeah, apparently not."

"Well, okay, I'll make you a deal. We can skip shopping today if I get to pick your outfit tomorrow."

"Ugh, Alice… fine. Deal," I relented.

"YES! Okay. Are you coming back to the apartment soon? I got the movies for tonight."

"Yeah, soon."

"Okay, then! Bye!"

"Bye, Alice." I snapped the phone closed and raised my eyebrow at Edward.

"Well, I guess I should reintroduce myself," I started. "Hi, I'm Bella, Alice's roommate. And _you_ are Alice's long-lost brother."

Edward chuckled. "I suppose you could call me that. I haven't been back out west in a while."

"And you're the addition to our dinner tomorrow."

"Yes. I am. And you're the clumsy roommate I've heard soo much about," he said with a smirk.

"I don't know if that's I good thing," I said. "Alice probably only tells you the embarrassing stories."

"Not only…. but yeah, mostly," he said, chuckling. I could see that he was remembering one specific story. "But don't worry, they're not that bad."

"Oh, yeah, sure," I said sarcastically. "Anyway, I should probably go before Alice bounces off the walls so hard that she breaks one of them."

"That sounds like Alice. Go. I'll see you tomorrow at your place," he said.

"All right. Bye," I said as I started to walk backwards away. Quite the feat for me, and also rather stupid. Inevitably, I tripped.

"Woah there," Edward said, quickly reaching out and grabbing my arm and keeping me upright. "You may want to watch where you walk. It helps."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah fine, whatever. Bye Edward." This time I turned around and began to walk away.

"Goodbye Bella. We'll meet again."

**I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.**

**I know it's been months, and I have no good excuse except that I'm new and not very good at this.**

**I promise to write much sooner than in four months. I'm even determined to write this weekend.**


	4. Juxtaposition

Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.

_Previously:_

_I rolled my eyes at him. "Yeah fine, whatever. Bye Edward." This time I turned around and began to walk away._

"_Goodbye Bella. We'll meet again."_

**Juxtaposition**

I woke to the sounds of Alice making coffee in the kitchen. I cracked open one eye to see that the sun had barely risen. I shut my eyes against the faint light and rolled over, already starting to doze off again. I was exhausted and planning to sleep in as late as possible. Alice had kept me up until all hours of the night making me watch movie after movie. The last of which was Prom Night. So even though I was exhausted, I had trouble falling asleep when she finally let me turn in.

I was practically asleep in seconds, but then a bomb landed in the form of a little, already hyper pixie.

"Bella!!!!! Getupgetupgetupgetuup!!!!" She started squealing as she launched onto my bed, almost propelling me onto the floor. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, I was used to these rude awakenings and was able to grab hold of my sheets before I could thump onto the cold hardwood floor.

"Uuuuh. Alice. Sleep. Need. Go away." Apparently my inner thoughts were too complex to convey this early.

"Nope. Sorry. You said I could pick your outfit for tonight but you _never_ said it had to be something you already owned," she said gleefully. "You and I are hitting all the best stores, then heading to the salon to get a mani-pedi, and we'll be back here just in time for Jasper and Mike to pick us up."

"Alice, come on," I mumbled as I started to sit up. This was an already lost battle if she had it planned so thoroughly already, but I had to try one last time. "Mike and I were going to hang out today."

"Key word there: were," she said as she backed off the bed and handed me a cup of coffee. If I had to get up early, at least she made good coffee. "I already talked to Mike, and he agreed to hang out with Jasper today. He'll be fine. Now get up. Since I know how much you don't want to do this, you can pick your own outfit."

"Wow, that's so generous," I grumbled. Actually it was, but I wasn't going to tell her that. And I was going to use it to my advantage. Old jeans and plain t-shirt, here I come.

* * * * * *

"That was possibly the longest day in the world," I sighed as we reentered the apartment at six that evening. "And we still have dinner in a half hour!"

"Well, look at it this way Bella. Now you don't have to sit for an hour while I do your hair and make-up," Alice chirped as she set down our ten large shopping bags.

"Yes, instead I had to sit through three hours of other people doing it."

Chuckling, Alice took the dress I was to wear tonight out of its bag and tossed it to me. "Go put on your clothes. But leave your door open I want to talk while we change."

Rolling my eyes, I proceeded to go to my room to change. "And what, might I ask, do you want to talk about?"

"Mike."

I froze, halfway through taking of my jeans. "What about Mike?"

"I want to know how serious you two are."

"You already know that Alice." I still hadn't moved.

"I mean in terms of marriage."

I did not speak. I did not move. I did not want this conversation.

"Would you say yes, if he asked you to marry him?"

I still did not speak, considering the question I had asked myself multiple times. Did I want to marry Mike? I loved him and he was the love of my life. But could I spend the rest of my life with him?

"I… think so," I replied hesitantly as I continued changing my clothes.

"I'm glad you're so sure of your life with him," she replied sarcastically.

"I dunno, Alice!" I exclaimed pleadingly. "You of all people know how hesitant I am about marriage. I love Mike. He's the love of my life, but I don't want getting married to screw it all up!"

"He's the love of your life _so far_."

"Is there a difference?"

"Of course Bella!" She came into my room, fully dressed. "You're 23! That's not much of a life. There could easily be someone out there who's better for you and you can love more than Mike."

"I _do_ love Mike though. A lot."

She sighed and zipped up my dress for me. "I know you do. And I also know he loves you and wants to spend his life with you. But I also feel that if one person so much as hesitates, it's not meant to be."

As she went to get my shoes out of one of the bags, I was silent, considering her words. I just couldn't imagine being with someone other than Mike. I was safe with him.

"Okay," Alice said as she reentered the room. "Enough of this talk. I have another question for you."

"Shoot," I said, happy to be done with this conversation. I sat on the bed to put on my shoes.

"What do you think of my brother?"

Uh oh. The juxtaposition of these conversations was too perfect. I looked at Alice, suspicious of her intentions.

"He's fine."

"Just fine?

"Well, yeah. I only talked to him for a few minutes. He seemed nice while I did."

Her face was too innocent. "Hm."

Still glaring at her suspiciously, I opened my mouth to ask her why she had asked when someone knocked on the door. She always seemed to time these conversations when I would get cut off before I confronted her.

"That'll be Jasper and Mike!" She squealed and ran to the door. In high heels, no less.

I chuckled and rose to walk after her. Alice and Jasper were so great together. They'd been together only a few months, and yet they were already planning their future together. Meanwhile, Mike and I had been together for three years. He occasionally mentions the future, and I change the subject. Did that mean we weren't meant for each other? It couldn't.

"Bella, you look pretty tonight."

I smiled at Mike, took his hand and he kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks. You look quite dashing yourself."

Both men were in dress pants and shirts with jackets, while Alice and I were in fancy dresses. Hers was pink, and mine was blue.

"Have they told you where we're going?" I whisper to Mike.

"Apparently somewhere fancy and expensive, where we won't be allowed to pay for ourselves," he responded. "But you probably gathered that yourself."

I chuckled. "That I did." Silly Cullens. Alice and Emmett always did this. The two siblings always take us somewhere where only they can afford. And now the final sibling had been added to the mix.

"Let's go!" Alice sang as she grabbed Jasper's wrist and dragged him out the door.

* * * * * *

"Table for eight. The name is Cullen."

"Of course. Right this way Miss."

The host led us to our giant round table in the back, Alice right on his heels.

"Here is your table, and enjoy your evening at _Bella Italia._" The host said after we were seated, and he turned and left.

"Good grief, Alice," I said, looking around. "Fancy enough?"

"Yep," she replied, opening her menu.

"Damn! And I thought we finally had you beat!"

We all looked up to see Emmett and Rosalie arrive, both looking amazing.

"You will never beat me, dear brother," Alice responded to Emmett's exclamation. "It's impossible."

"It's true, Em," said Jasper. "Stop trying."

"One day…" Emmett sat down between Rosalie and I. Now there were only two seats left between Alice and Rosalie. "Anyways. Hey guys. Where's Eddie-boy?"

"I do hope you haven't been calling me that the entire time I've been away."

We all turned towards Edward' voice as he led who I assumed to be Jessica to the table.

"Of course I have!" Emmett laughed, standing to hug his brother. "Long time, no see little bro!"

"Indeed it has been a while Emmett. Alice!" Edward leaned down and gave his sister a kiss on the cheek. Then he clasped hands with Jasper. "You must be Jasper. Nice to meet you."

"You too, Edward."

"Rosalie, hello. Bella, nice to see you again. And this must be Mike. I'm Edward." Edward extended his hand to Mike.

"Nice to meet the last Cullen," said Mike, shaking Edward's hand.

"Actually, I'm not technically a Cullen. It's Masen; Carlisle and Esme generously adopted me when my parents died. But that's all a technicality at this point." Edward went to sit between Alice and Jessica, who had already taken her seat. "Everyone, this is Jessica."

We all said hello, and the night proceeded. We talked and laughed and bonded. Edward fit right in with the group. It was effortless. He was more comfortable with the group than Mike was, and he'd been hanging with us for a couple years now. Edward laughed and talked with the rest of us as if he'd hung out with us here for since our childhood. And he and Jessica seemed to be in as much love as Mike and I were.

Time passed too quickly, and before I knew it we were saying good night. Jasper was driving Alice and I home, because Mike lived nearby and could walk. We all hugged each other goodnight, and promised to hang out soon.

When it was my turn to say goodnight to Edward, he extended his hand and gave me his crooked smile and his green eyes danced. "Take care, Bella. I'm sure we'll see each other soon. Look out for those bookcases."

I shook his hand, blushed and smiled, and replied. "As long as Alice has something to say about we will. And look out for those falling brunettes. They can be a real hazard in these parts."

He chuckled. "I'll definitely be on the lookout."

* * * * * *

"So do you still think Edward is 'fine'?"

Alice and I were brushing our teeth in the bathroom later. Jasper had dropped us off, and after a lengthy goodbye between the lovebirds, we were getting ready for bed.

I rolled my eyes at her. "He's very nice and charming, Alice."

"Handsome too, don't you think?"

"Sure, Alice. Very handsome. Very in love with Jessica too." Hopefully she'd get the hint.

"I suppose. They're happy, but she's not good enough for him. Not enough personality. And don't expect I didn't notice those looks you two kept exchanging."

Shit. I did hope she didn't notice. They weren't worth noticing anyway. "We just connected eyes once in a while, Al."

"Suuure. There's _absolutely nothing_ between you guys."

"That's right. Nothing at all."

**Everyone has the right to not be receiving alerts for this story anymore.**

**It's been forever, I know.**

**I'd promise to write soon, but I don't want to get anyone's hopes to high.**

**I will keep writing though.**


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